David Ancell / Saturday, June 26, 2004 / Comments(0)
Well, at least we know now that it isn’t just us that odd things are happening to.
Category: Posts imported from Danger! Falling Brainwaves, Uncategorized
David Ancell / Saturday, June 26, 2004 / Comments(0)
So far, most things have worked well with my new host. I’m still looking to get some of my PHP mail forms to work a little better, but I think they are usable for now. Interestingly enough, it’s the ones that are going to my own domain that are the fun ones. I’m having to configure workarounds, but I am getting something on them. I have started to move the Frassati Society web page.
Meanwhile, I hope to catch up on some other things.
Category: Posts imported from Danger! Falling Brainwaves, Uncategorized
David Ancell / Tuesday, June 22, 2004 / Comments(0)
I remember the original article. Now read Secret Agent Man’s post complete with between-the-lines comments. C’mon we know that the bishops plan neither to make nor enforce new music rules. If only Rome would say “Look, we said make some rules; now DO IT!!” Instead, it is quite likely that the half-yaknowwhat attempt will get approval. Look at what happened to Ex Corde Ecclesiae.
On another note, GIA lists ten reasons to use their hymnals. Notice what’s missing? There’s nothing in there about the songs contained within.
Category: Posts imported from Danger! Falling Brainwaves, Uncategorized
David Ancell / Tuesday, June 22, 2004 / Comments(0)
This summer, the weather has reminded me of Jackson, Mississippi. It could be sunny at 3 PM, raining at 4 PM, and then sunny again (but very humid) at 5 PM. It has been like this in Memphis thanks to the tropical storm activity.
I do like the jogging weather I had this morning. I sure do need to jog off these extra pounds. Usually in Memphis it’s already hot as Gehenna by 6 AM. The nice side is that you can wear shorts through late October, if not November.
Am I rambling or what? I do hope that this stormy weather isn’t going to go on all summer. I want some nice sunny days where I don’t have to dodge lightning bolts.
Category: Posts imported from Danger! Falling Brainwaves, Uncategorized
David Ancell / Monday, June 21, 2004 / Comments(0)
How has it been trying to connect to my new blog? Please let me know if the connetion is fast or slow. Is there a noticeable delay before the page pops up? I’ve been noticing some, but ironically I have no problem with my regular web page written in PHP. I’m especially interested in knowing if the page ever took so long to load that you gave up.
Category: Posts imported from Danger! Falling Brainwaves, Uncategorized
David Ancell / Sunday, June 20, 2004 / Comments(0)
If you’ve been reading the Catholic news, you will know that the USCCB has just met. The statement they made on Catholics in political life can be found here. At first, I thought it was a pretty good statement. In the end, however, it missed the mark. Let’s see what it does say:
1. It starts by saying that abortion is evil and can never be justified. It says that those who knowingly and willingly cooperate are guilty of grave sin and outside the life of the Church.
2. It goes on to say, and I quote “To make such intrinsically evil actions legal is itself wrong.” and “Those who formulate law therefore have an obligation in conscience to work toward correcting morally defective laws, lest they be guilty of cooperating in evil and in sinning against the common good.”
3. Near the end, it mentions the obligation to “examine their consciences” before receiving Communion, but it also states that this includes adherence to Church teachings in personal and public life.
So, what is wrong here?
1. It makes no mention of Canon 915 of the Code of Canon Law. I read this canon just before writing this, and it clearly says that those persisting in manifest grave sin “are not to be admitted to holy communion.” In other words, it doesn’t say that the bishop has the right to deny communion. Rather, it says that such people are not to be admitted. Someone who interrupts a campaign to fly to Washington D.C. to vote against the Unborn Victims of Violence Act certainly qualifies.
2. If politicians who support “abortion rights” have placed themselves outside the life of the Church, why are there “differing views” on whether or not they should be denied communion? This isn’t a new issue that is needing clarification. It has been persisting for decades with little action on the part of our bishops other than writing documents that are never enforced.
I do hope that the bishops realize that, with the writing of a document, they haven’t fulfilled their duty. Given that they have made resolutions, I will believe their sincerity when and only when I see follow up. So far, the only time I’ve seen any follow up is on the sexual abuse scandal, and we may well have the media and a few lawyers to thank for that.
Category: Posts imported from Danger! Falling Brainwaves, Uncategorized
David Ancell / Sunday, June 20, 2004 / Comments(0)
This makes me sick. The New York Times published this with very little mention of the true moral implications of it. It was an article about couples who had genetic tests done on their children with the intent of aborting if they were “defective.” The “defects” range from Down’s syndrome and cystic fibrosis to having an extra digit that can be surgically removed.
Per the CCC (2271): Sine the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion.
Got that?? Every abortion, without exception, is a moral evil. In paragraph 2274, the Cathechism explicitly says that prenatal diagnosis done with “the thought of possibly inducing an abortion, depending on the results” is “gravely opposed to the moral law.”
It seems that we as Americans have gotten so attached to our lifestyle that we don’t want it interfered with, even if it means killing someone, as long as we “get away with it” (see the references to those words in the article). Perhaps instead we think that those who cannot live the life that we think everyone should have are unworthy of life.
I know that having a child with a debilitating disease is heartbreaking. However, that child is just as precious in God’s eyes as are other children. Let us not forget that our lives and the lives of children are not our own. The God who entrusted this person to you will give you the grace. Please don’t refuse it.
There are some practical concerns about this as well:
1. As the article mentioned, there are parents out there who will abort anyone who will be any kind of inconvenience to them (as in the child with the extra digit).
2. Aborting children with debilitating diseases can very well stop the development of treatments for such diseases.
3. Health insurance companies will no doubt seize this as an opportunity to save a buck. Why should they pay for the child’s treatment if the parents could have just aborted? Don’t think it won’t happen. I predict that the insurance-mandated abortions are to be found in the not-too-distant future.
I know that some people will read this and say “Who are you to tell us this?” Leave aside the fact that it isn’t I who made the decision, and we still have one question. Who are you to decide who does or does not have the right to live? I would urge you to read this instead.
Category: Posts imported from Danger! Falling Brainwaves, Uncategorized
David Ancell / Sunday, June 20, 2004 / Comments(0)
I have blogged much about liturgical music. This post isn’t completely about that. There are some Catholic musicians who do some music that is not for Mass, but is good for listening.
Matt Maher has produced an album called “The End and the Beginning.” I can’t find his web site. The title track, and the Litany of the Saints, are worth the price of the entire album. The rest of the album is so-so.
Critical Mass has a great album entitled Completely that has a number of good songs.
Check these out.
Category: Posts imported from Danger! Falling Brainwaves, Uncategorized
David Ancell / Sunday, June 20, 2004 / Comments(0)
I finally got my copy of Redemptionis Sacramentum from my local Catholic bookstore. I haven’t gone through the paper copy yet, but I found some important citings in the document.
1. Article 107 suggests that people who pour the Blood of Christ into the sacrarium are subject to excommunication reserved to the Holy See. I know that this happens in places.
2. Article 104 addresses something that has long bugged me. It clearly states that self-intinction is prohibited (contrary to what some priest once told me), as is receiving by intinction on the hand. I know of one local parish where a number of people regularly do this. Article 173 refers to this practice as “grave matter.”
I’ve also heard rumors that some will wait until a later time or until “the U.S. bishops have met” to “implement” the document. The Holy See has said:
This Instruction, prepared by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments by mandate of the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II in collaboration with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, was approved by the same Pontiff on the Solemnity of St. Joseph, 19 March 2004, and he ordered it to be published and to be observed immediately by all concerned. (emphasis mine)
Like I’ve said earlier, it’s great, but I am not optimistic about its enforcement. It would have been totally unnecessary if our bishops and the Vatican had enforced what they’ve already written.
Category: Posts imported from Danger! Falling Brainwaves, Uncategorized
David Ancell / Saturday, June 19, 2004 / Comments(0)
I have already managed to get the XML feed working. I read up on how to develop it, and it turns out that it isn’t that difficult. I did, however, have to change the address. It is now at:
http://weblog.davidancell.com/dfb.xml
Interestingly enough, for some reason my web site points to the new site if you use davidancell.com as the address and the old one if you use www.davidancell.com. Hopefully, it will update soon.
Category: Posts imported from Danger! Falling Brainwaves, Uncategorized